Surface mount technology (SMT) has evolved utilizing printed circuit boards having circuits printed or etched out in conductive foil on the surfaces thereof to define circuit traces that extend to and from board mounted components and connectors leading to and from the board. SMT has led to a widespread packaging technique for a host of applications including consumer electronics of a type demanding high density packaging. With SMT, components and connectors are mounted on the surface of the board with a solder cream either applied to contacts of the connector or to the board itself, and with an appropriate flux applied, and the solder heated and caused to be reflowed to effectively solder contacts of connectors and components to circuits on the board surface. U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,614 discloses such an SMT connector. SMT contrasts with earlier developed techniques wherein printed circuit boards contained holes with connectors and components having contacts with pins that were fitted in such holes with soldering to the printed circuit board occurring either on the bottom or within the holes by a suitable solder reflow. Typically, component and connector contacts are coated with a tin or tin lead material, compatible with the use of solder creams and/or reflowable in and of itself.
With certain consumer appliances and devices, such as cameras, camcorders, and the like, weight and volume become important, and the overall height and volume of an installed component and/or connector and a printed circuit board can become critical.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector for use with a printed circuit board that allows a use of SMT with a reduced height and volume of the connector and printed circuit board for improved packaging. It is still a further object to provide an electrical connector having a housing and contacts oriented to maximize center-to-center spacing, and at the same time, facilitate soldering of such contacts to conventionally oriented circuit traces on printed circuit boards.
It is yet a further object to provide an improved SMT connector and a method of application to a printed circuit board.